


Freshly Fallen Snow

by CariniCode



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Graphic Description, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 10:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CariniCode/pseuds/CariniCode
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Jack/Bunnymund one-shots that may connect from time to time. (Featuring prompts from January Jackrabbit Week, though I'm late to the party. And the Fandom). <br/>Chapter 1: Fight</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freshly Fallen Snow

**Author's Note:**

> I am a bit late to the fandom, but here I am, nonetheless. The first few chapters feature the prompts from Jackrabbit week, because it's an awesome idea and I'm always looking for prompts. This is my first work for Rise of the Guardians, actually. 
> 
> Brief use of OC in this chapter just because I needed a villain. She may or may not make more appearances in other chapters for villain-y sakes.

The Spirit of Halloween was not a pleasant individual to deal with, in hindsight: he would admit, to no one but himself of course, that he underestimated Hallows Eve. Sure, she was pretty with her pale complexion and the wicked way her hair curled, but the cruelty and trickery was a complete turn off (Jack also felt she had nothing on Toothiana in terms of beauty, either, but that was another opinion he kept to himself). North explained that, in older millenniums, Hallows Eve wasn't as twisted as she was now: she was the Spirit of trickery and pranks, but her tricks were lighthearted and fun, not the harmful gimmicks they were now. She believed in safety at one time, but now, there wasn't nothing but jealousy and hate for the holidays that grew in popularity, leaving her stagnant in the fall. Children were influenced by her power alone to run rampant in the streets, causing chaos and destruction and leaving other spirits powerless to influence them otherwise. 

Before Jack had become a Guardian, he was nearly blind to the holidays not within the winter months—he never realized the extent to which Children were hurt every year, and even now, when such truths were put before him, he struggled to believe it. How could a spirit just disregard the children like that? How could Hallows Eve just cause so much hurt? 

It was clear she cared little for the children, but now her eyes were set on the Guardians, or, most notably, North and Aster due to their popular holiday. 

Jack had been in Burgess, where he spent most of his free time, when he spotted the Aurora in the sky, summoning the Guardians to the North Pole. While he knew it meant trouble, a threat to the children and their belief, he was almost excited—since they defeated Pitch, not a lot was going on. Sure, the children knew he existed, believed in him, and he had a few more duties with snow and frost in the more northern continents, but when the summer season rolled around, there wasn't much for him to occupy himself with unless he stepped on someone's toes (and after the blizzard of '68, he tried not to do that anymore). Without hesitation, he let the wind lift him up and carry him north. 

He wasn't the first to arrive, but he wasn't the last, either. Sandy was leaning against a pillar, dozing, while North was looking worriedly over the globe that depicted the children's belief throughout the world; it seemed Tooth and Bunny hadn't appeared yet. Stepping down from the windowsill where he'd come in, Jack briefly tapped the end of his staff against the wood flooring to announce his arrival.

“Ah, Jack!” North greeted him, though Sandy didn't wake. Jack was hardly offended; it usually took shaking the little man to get him to rouse. “Glad you are here. We have problem. Big problem.” 

“What is it? Pitch back?” After their final battle, where the Nightmares chased Pitch into a hole in the ground, they were entirely sure where he ended up. Or at least, Jack wasn't sure, and didn't care enough to ask anyone. He was fairly certain Pitch would rise up again someday, and they would have to quash him back down again. Jack almost looked forward to it. 

“No. But it is another spirit—Hallows Eve.” 

“Not that shelia,” Aster grumbled, coming up through the tunnel he'd opened in the floor. The Guardian of Hope didn't even acknowledge Jack, which both hurt and relieved him. Things had been... odd, between them as of late, and the winter spirit was worried he'd ruined their friendship out of selfishness. He wanted more out of their relationship, something intimate and personal, and had been so, so sure Aster wanted that, too; when Jack approached the subject, however, Aster completely shut him down. The rejection still stung (who was he kidding? It burned). 

“Hallows Eve?” Jack repeated, unsure. He wasn't familiar with the roster of spirits like the others were, but that was understandable—he just reached the anniversary of his first year as a Guardian but a few weeks ago. 

“She is spirit of Halloween,” North shared. “Unofficial, of course.” 

“More like self-proclaimed,” Aster bit out under his breath, folding his arms over his broad chest and leaning against the same pillar Sandy was dozing against. Jack forced himself to look away, focusing on the conversation at hand and burying the hurt feelings that threatened to resurface. 

“So, what's the problem then? Isn't it just harmless tricks and candy?” That was what Halloween was about, right? Going door to door for candy and treats, and the occasional prank of toilet paper or eggs tossed at someone's house? Jack didn't really do much for the holiday professionally or personally; occasionally he made the night a little chillier, or kicked up the wind a bit, but he typically didn't interfere. 

“Harmless?” North repeated, clearly offended at Jack's word choice. “No! Hallows Eve's tricks are bad! Children get hurt! More so in past decades, children are influenced to be naughty, to play with fire and be mean to one another.” Jack frowned. He never really hung around on halloween to see what the children were getting up to, so this was news to him.

“What's worse,” North continued. “Hallows Eve is jealous. She does not like Bunny or I. Slanders our names, tries to ruin our holidays.” 

“But she hasn't, right?” Jack asked, almost passively angry she had even tried, and protective of his fellow guardians, his friends. 

“We've never given 'er the chance,” Aster confirmed. “Painted my googies black and orange in '98, though.” 

“She came to me, told me she planned to end our holidays for good this time,” North admitted, frowning. Jack could practically see Aster's hackles rising at the thought of someone messing with Easter. “She didn't say how, though.” 

“No way that shelia's touching Easter!” the Guardian of Hope growled, and Jack barely suppressed a shudder, though the shivers down his spine ran freely. It wasn't a response of fear, though.

Sandy awoke from the noise, glancing around after rubbing at his eyes with small fists, and a sand symbol of Toothiana flashed above his head, along with a question mark—and Jack realized their meeting was underway, but the tooth fairy hadn't arrived. 

“Where's Tooth?” Jack asked, looking to North, and then briefly, Aster. North glanced around, like she was perhaps hidden behind one of the Yetis, before a heavy frown came to his lips.

“Not like her to ignore call,” he commented. “Better make sure she's okay.” 

There was no argument about leaving to check on Tooth as they quickly headed for the slay, everyone prepared for a possible battle. Jack was quiet, sitting on the far edge of the sleigh as North guided the reindeer out of the Pole's tunnels, unspoken questions on his tongue. How strong was Hallows Eve's jealousy that she would threaten to overtake another holiday? When Jack was alone, unseen, he would have done anything just to have one person believe in him, but part of that was desperation, and he didn't think he'd ever destroy another spirit—he definitely wouldn't have ever harmed a child. 

The tossed snowglobe brought them out to pillars of smoke, and the reindeer immediately veered off course to get out of the thick of it, while the guardians were left coughing and breathing into their arms with eyes screwed shut. When they could open them again, it was to the sight of Tooth's cove and a roaring fire that threatened to consume everything. 

Jack dove from the sleigh without hesitation, immediately fearful for tooth and her little fairies as the wind caught him, carrying him towards the blaze. He barely heard the others shout behind him, his heart beating quickly and thundering in his ears as he commanded the wind, ordering it to pick up as he summoned a heavier snow—better to turn Tooth's home into a winter wonderland than let it burn, he rationed. The wind could contain the fire, keep the inferno from spreading throughout the cove, while the snow would melt quickly and put the blazes out; or so, that was the winter spirit's plan, at least. He could see the tiny fairies buzzing about, saving the teeth before the fire consumed them, but Toothiana was no where in sight.

“Tooth?” he shouted, trying to gain height to see the fairy. Realizing the fire was spreading in the northern sections, Jack dashed in that direction, riding the wind and keeping eyes out for his friend, all while trying to keep careful tabs on how the fire was spreading and if it was going out with his element's aid. 

He heard the snap in the platform above him too late, his eyes widened as he glanced up in time to see it crumble, one of the fiery support beams knocking him out of the air and into the ground below with barely a few inches of snow to break the fall. Pain blossomed through him instantaneously, centered in his shoulder where the beam had struck the hardest, and it was only when he rolled away from the burning debris that he realized the wood had not only struck him, but burned him badly as well; a wide patch of his hoodie was charred, torn away and almost welded to parts of his flesh, while his shoulder was dripping blood and black in color, mixed with exposed tissue and muscle. It looked more gruesome than it felt—his body temperature was usually low, he estimated he may be numb to the burned section—and he had to look away as his stomach churned unpleasantly. 

His body felt like a giant bruise, with pain radiating throughout, as he forced himself to climb up and put his injuries on the back burner. The fire was suppressed, but it wasn't out yet, and the little fairies and the teeth were far from out of danger. Back in the air, Jack laid the snow on a little more heavily and used the wind to blow it up and over the flames to force them further and further down, but was quickly loosing feeling in his right arm, the pain becoming stronger and more noticeable by the second. 

When the last of the flames died out, Jack was in agony, the wind carrying him to the ground where he collapsed to his knees with a broken keen. His awareness was swimming as his vision rapidly grew dark, and as his consciousness faded out, the winter spirit thought he could see Aster running towards him. 

 

When he awoke again, he was a little warmer than comfortable and in the comfort of a bed that wasn't his with a thin sheet pulled up to his chest. Shirtless, he noted, Jack glanced around blearily, able to identify his environment was part of the North Pole. Perhaps he hadn't dreamed Aster carrying him back, and Toothiana's tears, then. His shoulder was bandaged lightly, but he couldn't really feel it or the potential pain; he was mostly just numb. Shifting his lax form, Jack forced himself to sit up and drop his legs over the side of the bed. Standing was the difficult part—they must've given him some kind of medicine or healing ointment, because he was far from steady on his feet and felt a bit lightheaded. But there was no way he was just going to lie in bed—he needed to know what happened to Tooth, and if she was okay. 

Unfortunately, he barely shrugged into a hoodie left for him (a bit of a lighter blue, but the same size; he guessed they threw out his other ruined one) when Aster came into the room, ears twitching.

“Oh no you don't, wallaby, back in bed,” he ordered, and Jack was too weak to stop the Hope Guardian from bullying him back into the bed. Small victories, he guessed—he at least had something on over himself now. 

“Okay, okay, no need to be so pushy, Cottontail,” he murmured, slumping back down. He'd never admit it, but it felt nice to be laying back in bed instead of forcing his body to hold itself. “What about Tooth? Is she okay?” 

“Distraught about her place, but happy the fairies and teeth are safe,” Aster commented, walking away but not leaving. Instead, he fetched a wooden chair to bring to Jack's bedside, and the winter spirit realized that perhaps he didn't ruin the friendship they built after all. If Aster was willing to sit at his bedside, then maybe things were okay between them. Knowing the Guardian of Hope would sense the building emotion inside Jack, he tried to push it back. 

“How'd the fire get started?” he asked, picking at the white linens he was covered in. Sitting still was never something he was good at, and he had a feeling he would be trying to sneak out more than he'd be actually resting and recuperating. 

He had his suspicions about the fire, and Aster merely confirmed them. “Hallows Eve started it. She and Tooth never got along.” Jack nodded, able to tell now that Aster was distracted by something else. The older guardian sighed, looking to Jack. “Ya gave me a fright, mate. How ya just dropped outta the sky. Ya did good... but don't ever do that ta me again.” In those few words, Jack could see the worry, the brief flashes of fear, and it gave him mixed emotions. Did Aster only think of him as a friend? Or was it possible the Easter Spirit was interested in Jack on a more personal level.

“Can... Can I ask you something?” Jack asked hesitantly. 

Aster rolled his eyes. “Like it'd stop ya if I said no.” 

Jack gave a little grin, but it fell away quickly. “Why did you shut me down? When I...” he didn't finish the sentence, because Aster knew what he meant. The winter spirit needed to know, needed to hear if Aster only wanted to be friends or wasn't interested in Jack that way. 

“I thought ya were joking,” Aster admitted quietly, looking away briefly. Jack stared at him.

“You thought—you thought I was just kidding around?” he demanded, eyebrows shooting up. “Why would I joke about that? I can be serious about things!” He was almost offended, if it wasn't so ridiculous. He doubted what he saw, that Aster could possibly share such feelings, but in the end, he was right. 

“We ain't even the same species!” Aster argued, defensive. “Yer a kit compared to me!” 

“Does that bother you?” Jack asked honestly, quietly, as he frowned at the Guardian. In truth, both were components he hadn't even thought of. Aster had been around a lot longer than most spirits, and Jack wasn't even entirely sure how old he was exactly, and anyone with eyes could tell they were of different species. Yet, age or fur didn't matter in the slightest. 

Aster's ear twitched briefly, as he looked away. “It doesn't,” he admitted finally. Jack was quiet for a bit, and the silence between them was comfortable as he looked for his next words. 

“I wasn't joking,” he finally stated, watching Aster. 

Unfortunately, he didn't get an answer, because in the next moment, Tooth was flying into the room with a million thank-yous for saving her home. Aster sent him a meaningful look over Tooth's shoulder, and Jack couldn't help the flutter of hope in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear from other Jackrabbit fans and how they felt about my take on it!


End file.
